MSDF chopper likely crashes off Aomori Pref.

August 27, 2017

TOKYO- A Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter is likely to have crashed off Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, after falling out of contact during a drill Saturday night.

One of the four crew members of the SH-60J patrol helicopter has been rescued, while the remaining three are missing, MSDF sources said, adding the rescued one is not in a life-threatening condition.

The helicopter fell out of contact around 10:50 p.m. Saturday (1:50 p.m. GMT) while flying over the Sea of Japan about 90 kilometers west-southwest of Tappizaki, a cape in the northern part of the prefecture, according to the sources.

The helicopter, based in the MSDF Ominato air base in Mutsu in the same prefecture, was carrying four male crew members including the captain, Lt. Cmdr. Yuki Sato, 36.

The SDF and the Japan Coast Guard's second regional headquarters, based in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, are searching for the missing crew members.

The helicopter, carried by the MSDF destroyer Setogiri, was participating in the nighttime landing and departure drill. It sent a distress signal just before the contact was lost.

The MSDF set up a special team at the Maritime Staff Office to investigate the accident. It will analyze the helicopter's flight recorder if it is recovered.

At the MSDF, a multipurpose helicopter turned over during a drill at the Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 17, injuring three people.

In 2012, an SH-60 patrol helicopter of the Ominato air base crashed in Mutsu Bay in Aomori Prefecture after hitting an MSDF destroyer. Its captain was killed in the accident. Jiji Press